Today is Day 2 of our 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway. You can enter each day to win the prize of the day! Contest rules and how to enter are below.
It takes just a minute to enter: simply comment below answering the question of the day!
Today’s Project
On the second day of our 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, my true love gave to me…the Purple TG1100 Iron from Oliso!
Imagine creating a beautiful piece of clothing out of your favorite cloth. Proud of your masterpiece, you happily plop your project into the washer and dryer, only to realize when you take it out that it’s several times smaller than before. Cue shock and horror. To prevent this devastating fabric nightmare, follow these tips and tricks on how to prevent your fabric from shrinking!
The key to preventing fabric shrinkage is pre-washing the fabric. Like the name suggests, pre-washing is when you wash and dry your fabric before you begin any project. There are several benefits for pre-washing your fabric. One, any dye that may bleed will be taken care of when you wash the fabric. Two, washing will remove the chemicals from the fabric that might irritate sensitive skin. Lastly, rather than worrying over how to fix a ruined, shrunken craft, you can start a project with fabric that is already its post-washing size.
Tip: Prepare for the inevitable shrinkage by adding extra fabric to the length and width of your project before you begin sewing. Then, you can cut to adjust the fabric for your desired dimensions after you wash it.
To pre-wash fabric, complete the following steps:
- Zig zag stitch around the raw edges of the fabric.
- Following the instructions on the fabric’s packaging, wash the fabric.
- Throw in with some towels into the washer for agitation.
- After drying the fabric, press it so that you will get a smooth and even surface for cutting. Ironing and steaming it with a device like the Purple TG1100 Iron will give it a smooth, crisp finish.
Can’t be bothered to pre-wash? Then try some of these anti-shrinkage tips:
- Sometimes, uneven fabric feeding can worsen fabric shrinkage in the wash. Use a walking foot machine or pin your fabric panels while sewing to keep your feeding even.
- Sewing tight stitches on a fabric that does not stretch much will result in puckering. This could lead to the fabric shrinking in the wash. Sewing with longer stitches or using a lighter thread reduce tension can help prevent puckering.
Resources:
- How to Keep Fabric from Shrinking from allfreesewing.com
- How to Keep Fabric from Shrinking When You Sew from the Salrite blog
Enter to Win the Purple TG1100 Iron!
Oliso is committed to creating innovative products that make household life easier. The Oliso SmartIron is no different. Through innovative design, Oliso has created an iron that makes ridding your clothing of wrinkles easier than ever! You’ll love how simple and quick your ironing is with the SmartIron!
In order to win today’s 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post below telling us:
How do you keep your projects and garments from shrinking?
This contest has ended. And the winner is:
Check out the rest of the 12 Days of Christmas giveaway series. There are still 10 chances to win!
Be sure to enter our sleigh of prizes giveaway to win each of our giveaways featured!
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